


The Pandora Within

by zeechan04



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 07:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19058314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeechan04/pseuds/zeechan04
Summary: Pandora was used as the main ingredient for the Apotoxin 4869 that took effect on Edogawa Conan's body.





	The Pandora Within

“Come on, Ran.” The high school detective said, trying to calm his childhood friend when he heard her still sniffling softly because of the roller coaster case he had just solved earlier. “Stop crying.” He tried to tone down his voice, but he knew he failed when his friend glared at him.

“How can you act like nothing happened?” she asked with a sharp voice while wiping some tears in her eyes.

She could not handle murders. Her heart breaks whenever she hears the reasoning of the people who do it. She is strong but she also has a big heart for everyone. She could not bear seeing anyone get hurt. That was why she was clearly disappointed with his friend.

The high school detective hesitantly answered, “I-I’m used to seeing crime scenes. You know, like dismembered bo—“

Ran gasped and wept louder, “You’re awful!!” she shouted while looking away and covering her face with her palm.

Shinichi panicked for a bit, “Y-you should forget about it. You know…” he paused for a while, “stuff like this happens a lot.” And explained his side.

“No, it doesn’t!!” Her friend instantly disagreed, shouting louder than she should be.

But she knew that for him she did not make sense. For a normal person, seeing dead bodies was not normal. But as for Shinichi, who was literally called the death magnet at some point, at his young age to top that, those kind of scenes were normal for him. And if he were going to pursue a career as a detective, there would be more to come.

While trying to calm his childhood friend, a figure of a suspicious man caught Shinichi’s attention. His eyes automatically followed the figure and saw the same suspicious person from the roller coaster earlier.

The guy was wearing all black with a red shirt inside. He had a muscular body, a wide chin, and a little bit short. He also wore black-tinted glasses that made him even more suspicious.

The high school detective saw the man in black walked towards a dark alley. He knew he should not leave his childhood friend, but his curiosity and sense of justice won over. “Sorry, Ran!” he shouted while running away from her, “Go on home without me!”

She was surprised, “What?” but when she looked towards him, he was far-off from her, and that made her upset.

“I’ll catch up with you!” He shouted, trying to reassure his friend.

“Shinichi…,” the tone of her voice was gloomy. She wanted to stop him; she was getting a bad premonition that she would not be able to see the high school detective again. But deep down as well, she knew she could not stop him, so she let him go and brushed off her weird feeling.

The modern Heisei Holmes followed the man in black. His steps were light and small to avoid unnecessary noises.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. President,” Greeted by the man in black to another guy who’s standing near the foundation of the Ferris Wheel.

The other man was very uneasy with a lot of fidgety movements. He was holding a suitcase with both of his hands, all sweaty and panicky, “I-I come alone as promised!”

“I know.” The man in black was certain, “I confirmed that from the top of the roller coaster.” he said.

The other guy was more frightened when he discovered that they were watching him from the very start, but he still demanded to get what he wanted, “H-hurry, give it to me.” He commanded but with no power in his voice.

That earned a smirk from the man in black, “Don’t be in such a rush.” He answered, “The money first.”

The other guy immediately opened the case he was holding, “Here!” and showed it to the man in black, “It’s all here!!” extending his hands that held the suitcase to let the man in black saw the money he had brought.

The teen detective heard the transaction from quite afar. He was hiding behind the structure where the transaction was being held. He was surprised to see the man handed the suitcase full of money to the man in black, “There’s got to be over ¥100 Million there,” he thought to himself.

“Good. The deal is done,” said the man in black.

“Now give me the film,” the other guy asked once again.

The man in black picked a small memory card from his chest pocket and tossed it to the other guy. “Here you go. The evidence revealing your company’s involvement in gun smuggling!” he provoked. “Crime doesn’t pay!!”

Hearing all of those, Shinichi took out his phone from his pocket to take photos of the illegal transaction he had just witnessed. “This is serious,” he thought to himself.

The man in black started to walk away from the other guy and the teen detective was too caught up gathering pictures for pieces of evidence that he did not notice the presence of a person from behind him, “That’s it, kid,” and was hit on his head from behind, “No more playing detective for you!” said a familiar voice: a voice he heard earlier from the roller coaster case.

“B-boss…”

“You let yourself be tailed by this kid,” said the tall and thin man in black. He had long silver hair that went down to his hips.

“Should we rub him out?!”

“No guns! This place is still crawling with cops,” the guy with silver hair said.

He started looking at his coat to get a case full of drugs, “Let’s use this” he said and got one capsule from the case. “The new poison the syndicate developed.”

He grabbed the barely conscious detective on his hair and made him drank the drug. “This poison is untraceable in the body. It’ll be an unsolvable murder!” he proudly said to his companion. “But this substance is still in development. The previous ones were all found dead after drinking this.”

“Come on, let’s get out of here!” The other man in black called out, carrying the suitcase earlier with ¥100 Million.

“Right,” The silver-haired guy answered and left the dying detective on the ground, “So long, great detective!” and followed after his companion.

The muscular man in black said as they entered the car, a sleek black Porsche 356 A, “We did it, boss. But what if that new drug is effective and does not kill him like the others?”

The silver-haired guy smiled evilly, “Then we just have to go and find him again.” He said confidently and started driving the car away from Tropical Island.

Meanwhile, the teenage detective was suffering. He felt his body burned up like his bones were melting away. “Am I going to die?” he thought to himself and everything went dark.

The next thing he knew there were police all around him and was referring to him as ‘Little Boy’. It made him confused. His head was aching really bad from the hit he got from the silver-haired guy. When he tried sitting up, he realized his clothes were all bigger than him.

“You okay, little boy?” An officer asked him.

“Little boy?” to his confusion, he inspected himself once again and saw that his body had shrunken, became that of a child.

“What’s--? What’s going on?”

\-----

Due to that incident, Shinichi, the once high school detective was now living under the name of Edogawa Conan as an elementary student. He lived on his childhood friend’s place for the meantime and planned on exposing what he called the Black Organization.

He also met Miyano Shiho, another victim of the drug. But unlike him, she took it voluntarily by herself in order to escape from the Black Organization. She now lived under the name of Haibara Ai as an elementary student as well.

Haibara started to study and created a formula that would counter the effect of the APTX-4869. The first prototype of the antidote was created, used to help Conan rid of his guilt, and consoling his childhood friend. It was a success as his body went back as Shinichi for a while, but when he reverted back to Conan, he had a different feeling from his first reversion when he first met Heiji.

“How are you feeling?” Haibara asked the little detective after running some tests in his body.

“I don’t know. Normal, I guess? But I feel like something is off.”

Haibara looked at him, uncertain, before typing on her computer to record everything that they found out.

“Can you elaborate more?” she asked.

“Like…,” He paused, thinking what would be the best words to describe what he was feeling. “I feel more ‘refreshed and younger’?” his tone was unsure. “It’s as if the APTX-4869 had another effect than my first time taking it.”

The little girl looked worried. 'Did I accidentally activated the drug more?' she thought. 'Will he became younger because of that? But going 10 years back from his current age will kill him. Or maybe just a few years back because it’s not the full capacity of the APTX-4869? Why does he feel more refreshed and younger?'

Her thoughts were crowded with questions. Questions that she could not answer unless she was given more concrete shreds of evidence.

“Haibara, is something wrong?” Conan snapped her from her train of thoughts. “You went all quiet.”

“Nothing, I was just thinking,” She replied, typing some more. The little scientist run some test from the blood sample he got earlier from the pinch-sized detective. “You can go home, for now, I’ll try running more tests and let’s see what I can find out. I’ll call you if I found out anything.”

Conan hopped down from the bed and fixed himself. Then he reached out his hands to Haibara, but she ignored him.

“Give!” the boy said, still reaching out his hands with an innocent smile on his face.

She frowned at him, “What?”

He flashed another smile to the little scientist, “The antidote for APTX-4869! You’ve got more of it, right? Give me.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, “Forget it!” she said. “I’m not handing it out like some candy to a geek who goes running around in broad daylight without thinking about the consequences.”

“Heh heh,” He forced a laugh. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to be more discreet next time.”

But the little scientist continued to ignore him and waved him out. Haibara looked unimpressed, even more than usual, so he just shrugged and grabbed his coat. During his way out, he decided to take a small detour to the bathroom.

He felt a little dizzy when he entered the bathroom. Stepping on a stool to reach the washbasin, Conan splashed his face with cold water to clear his mind. As he wiped his face, he checked his reflection on the mirror. A pair of bloody red eyes stared back at him.

He fell on the floor in surprise, but quickly stood up and looked back on the mirror to take a look on his eyes once again, but he just saw his normal blue eyes. No red, nothing out of ordinary.

“Maybe I imagine things because of my dizziness,” he grimaced.

The bathroom door was knocked from outside and the voice of Haibara called out to him. “Are you alright, Edogawa-kun? What was that noise?”

The small detective's eyes widened in surprise, "I-Uh, Yes?" 

Haibara hesitated in her reply. "Ah, I thought something happened."

"Uh yes, I'm alright."

\-----

“Well?” Haibara softly asked while feeling giddy because of her cold, “All aboard…” she coughed twice, “...the ghost ship, eh?”

The pinch-sized detective was focused on the Halloween invitation, ‘Kudou Shinichi’ was invited. “Yeah. Interesting signature on that letter.”

Professor Agasa kneeled down to look at the invitation, “You know who it is?”

Conan shook his head, “I bet Haibara knows.” he said, “It’s the name of a liquor, just like Vodka and Gin: the two men in black that turned me into a kid with the APTX-4869.”

“Sorry, can’t help you. I’m not much of a lush.” Haibara butted in, but Conan ignored her.

“It’s an Italian Liquor. In Japanese, it’s pronounced ‘Verumot’. But in English, they call it…” He looked at the little scientist that was all covered with jacket and blanket, “Vermouth”.

Haibara felt shivers in her body. Her sweats were cold and her heartbeat became irregular. She was speechless. She could not even move.

“I knew it’d ring a bell. It’s one of the Men in Black, isn’t it?”

The professor steadied his breath and tried to calm the panic he was feeling, “Th-Then this invitation is…”

“Yeah.” Conan cut him off while still looking at the invitation. “It’s a message from the syndicate. I don’t know if they’re ready to take me on or if they’ve gotten tired of waiting. But this is one party I can’t miss.”

“No!” the blonde haired girl disagreed. “You can't go! Think, Kudou-kun!" Her eyebrows almost met, fear and panic were written on her face. "It's obviously a trap! If you go, they'll kill…" She broke into a series of coughs.

"Yeah, you could be right," Conan answered. He closed his eyes, biting the letter of invitation and reaching for his stun gun wristwatch.

"Then… Then why would you even consider…,” she muttered in distress, trying to get her point across, but before she could finish her sentence, Conan struck her with his dart, putting the little girl to sleep instantly.

“Shinichi!” the professor gasped.

“Sorry, Haibara.” He adjusted her position on the nearby sofa and covered her with a blanket. “I can’t stay stuck like this. It’s time I grow up.”

Professor Agasa walked towards the kid detective. “You can’t leave her and run off to that party!” he scolded, but Conan remained unfazed.

Conan examined the invitation once again, “Look at this invitation.” He waved it in front of the professor. “It says ‘Kudou Shinichi’ on the envelope and RSVP. But the first line of the letter says…”

Professor Agasa took a good look at what the kid detective was trying to point out. To his surprise, he did not expect what he had read after. “Dear… Edogawa Conan?”

Conan grinned and his eyes gleamed, he was nervous and thrilled at how the events were developing. “They’ve figured out my true identity…” He coughed twice, “That I’m Kudou Shinichi, whose body got shrunk by APTX 4869.”

He looked back at the sleeping little girl, “And I guess they know that Haibara is an ex-member of the organization, Sherry, as well.”

Professor Agasa looked very concerned, “B-but don’t you think it’s odd?! If they know that much, then… why haven’t they come to kill us?!” 

“I don’t know. It does seem weird. But I think I have a rough idea of what the reason might be.” and another cough that was a bit louder than the first one.

“Uh-Oh! Did you catch Haibara’s cold?”

\-----

The night went on. Haibara was left on Professor Agasa’s room downstairs while the kid detective disguised himself as her.

Jodie from FBI picked him up with the excuse of ‘Dr. Araide’s car broke down! So I come to pick you up instead!’ that he did not believe, but he shrugged and went along with her.

Eventually, they stopped on a remote place with cargo boxes. From the opposite direction, another car pulled over, stopping just across them. Dr. Araide stepped out from the said car. The man accused the FBI agent of lying and fraud. However, Jodie quickly called off the stunt. It was Vermouth!

Conan gaped behind his flu mask, still dressed up as Haibara. Vermouth tore up the very convincing mask of Dr. Araide’s face. The wind blew her long pale blonde locks elegantly.

Jodie smirked, pointing her gun in the direction of the Black Organization member.

Vermouth put her hands up in mock surrender. As was expected from an experienced crime syndicate member, she had prepared a backup plan, once again thinking ahead of the FBI. She signaled and a sniper member of the Black Organization was able to injure Jodie on her left abdomen. 

The master of disguise member of the BO aimed her gun to Jodie’s head. “Well, this ends our reunion after 20 years, time for a farewell.” She looked at her in the eyes and smiled as gentle as she could, which seemed twisted yet strangely charming under the moonlight. “There, smile… You’re gonna meet your papa in heaven.”

Suddenly a soccer ball flew out from Jodie’s car window. It hit Vermouth’s hand that was holding the gun, sending it flying away. She gasped, surprise evident in her eyes as she saw who was coming out of the car passenger's seat. “Y-you… It can’t be.” she stuttered.

The kid detective removed his mask, proclaimed, “I am Edogawa Conan, detective!"

The FBI lady was surprised as well. She did not expect that the one she had taken was not the little girl she was meant to protect.

Conan aimed his stun gun wristwatch to Vermouth. But what he did not expect was to see Haibara following them with the help of the tracking glasses. 

A drop of sweat ran down from his forehead to his cheeks. He did not want the little scientist to be involved with his plan. He knew very well that she would be against it. Furthermore, it was a very dangerous plan for her. But there she was, standing in front of the confrontation between Conan, Jodie, and Vermouth.

“R-run away Haibara!” He shouted in panic. “Get away at--!” he felt a hand on his wrist, “Once?!” and was surprised when he saw Vermouth took the chance to sneak closer to him. The lady twisted his wrist and aimed the stun gun wristwatch on him instead. A quick press of a button and Conan fell unconscious.

A lot of unexpected things happened right after. Vermouth was not able to kill Haibara because of the sudden appearance of her Angel, Mouri Ran. The blonde BO member was also shot by another FBI Agent that killed her sniper accomplice. But even so, she was able to run away with the kid detective on a car.

She drove on the forest so no one can see them and sent a message to her boss. She looked at the kid detective. “Well then, the only thing left is this child. What to do with this boy who believes he can do anything,” she smiled somewhat fondly.

But the smile quickly faded when she noticed something on the boy’s body. She quickly pulled a pocket knife and sliced his shirt open. A couple of wires were attached throughout his body. They were part of an electrocardiogram monitor that recorded the sound of the phone she had used to text her boss.

She would have plucked them all out, but Conan woke up and surprised her.

The kid detective opened his eyes and looked at her sharply. The moonlight illuminated his face. Vermouth made a surprised sound. Conan’s eyes gleamed red, his focused pupils shimmered like a gemstone.

“Y-your eyes.” she once again stuttered, “You’re the Pandora?” that earned a bewildered face from the detective.

Vermouth knew that the kid detective was the once famous high school detective that was turned into a kid. But what she did not expect was the kid to be the Pandora himself that the Black Organization was looking for.

“Pandora?” Conan inquired, but Vermouth did not answer. Instead, she took out a sleeping gas container from her pocket and sprayed it on the kid.

“What?!”

“It’s just sleeping gas,” she assured. She moved closer and held him tight so he could not escape.

“Idiot. If you do that, you’ll also inhale the gas,” he said, half awake. He could not fight the drowsiness because of how strong the sleeping gas was.

“Yes, this is a bet.” Vermouth also said half awake. “If you wake up first, call the police and have me arrested. You will go with the police to where the Boss is. But… if I wake up first, you know what’ll happen right?”

Meanwhile, Vodka had attended the party where Hattori Heiji, disguised as ‘Kudou Shinichi’ had solved the case. He could not believe his eyes when he saw him. They thought he was dead, but how come he was on the party, alive and well, having a deduction on a case.

He immediately reported that to Gin who was currently driving his car towards the party as well to get him. Vodka tried to make Gin remembered the kid who had solve the roller coaster case and who had caught them that night as well.

“Sorry Vodka, the names and faces those I’ve killed… I’ve forgotten them,” He confidently answered.

“But I saw him at the party.”

“And what are you implying?”

“What if the drug that we had used to kill the kid had taken a different effect from the others that had drank it?” Vodka explained. That took Gin’s interest, “What if the drug was successful on him that he turned into the Pandora?”

Gin went silent and Vodka waited for him to speak when Gin’s phone rang. It was Vermouth asking to pick her up on a telephone booth because she cannot move.

“A-anyway… I’m in a phone booth along line 20, so… can you pick me up? G-got into some trouble and I can’t move.” Vermouth explained while she sat inside the telephone booth.

“There’s something I want to ask you before that, “Gin said, “Do you know a brat named, “Kudou Shinichi”?

Vermouth was quite surprised by the question. As she closed her eyes, she remembered what she had seen earlier. Conan’s pupil turned red on the moonlight. He is definitely the Pandora. The drug was a success on the said brat. He did not simply became a child again, the drug took effect and made him the Pandora. He will be the one to cry the tears of immortality the Organization needed.

She took a deep breath, “Dunno…” she said, “I don’t know him.”

\-----

Kaito loved his father, Kuroba Toichi, so much. He idolizes him and wanted to be like him, a great magician when he grew up. But everything changed when his father died when he was 8 from an accident.

He was in pain. Their family was. He felt lost. But he knew his father would not be happy if he had stayed like that. So he moved on. 

Not until he learned his father's secret that he is the Kaito KID. And that what he thought was an accident was really not. That the persons that killed his father was Snake. A member of the Black Organization in a different department.

He vowed to himself that when he gets his hands on the Pandora - and he will get it, he will destroy it whatever it takes.

He continued looking for Pandora. He conducted heists on different places to also lure out the people who had killed his father. He also met his favorite critic on a heist of his, where he felt a certain excitement that only that kid detective gave him.

On one of his heist, Jirokichi challenged him if he could steal the 100-carat amethyst, purple nail. Kaito had always been excited when he sees a challenge from the Suzuki because he knew that it meant that his favorite critic would be there as well. Ever since Conan had been given the title, KID killer.

He prepared for the challenge. He wanted to impress the little detective. He wanted to see his confused face, his thinking face and when he’s very proud deducting how he had solved the case.

The trick he had shown to his favorite critic was teleportation. He enjoyed seeing the kid detective got surprised how he did it. He could not forget how the kid looked like when he declared he will be doing teleportation, especially when Kaitou KID suddenly appeared on top of the roof in not less than 20 seconds. It was really a treasure for him.

He had another heist when he returned the other jewel because it was a fake. “I’d be thankful if we could meet here again tomorrow night. Because I’d arouse the anger of a lovely lady if I were to present only one shoe.” he declared and disappeared.

The next day, everyone was talking about the heist, the teleportation. Everyone was amazed at how he managed to be on the top of the roof of a building in less than 20 seconds. Kaito was very pleased.

He wanted to know what his favorite critic thought about what he did last night, so he disguised as a civilian and casually followed their group out on their way home. He was happy hearing the comments of the other Detective Boys but he was delighted with Conan’s remarks.

“...Though it seems like no human being can do it.” the kid said to Haibara, “But then on the other hand, it means that you can’t move without taking twenty seconds!” his eyes sparked excitement, “I’ll definitely solve this 20-second mystery, and reveal that instant trick of his next time!”

“Hmm… You sound excited.” the blonde-haired kid observed.

“Eh?”

“You look like a child that’s about to open up a present he knows is a toy,” she said satisfyingly while teasing the kid detective who is clearly also amazed and thrilled with the phantom thief’s trick.

Meanwhile, the high school magician was satisfied with what he had seen and heard. He felt the warmth on his chest seeing that he was able to put that kind of face on his favorite critic. He was happy that he could also push the detective to be the best. “I guess I should get ready for tonight.”

\-----

People were all gathered around, but unlike last night, the audience was not allowed to enter the net.

Something exploded on the sky inside the net. “What’s that? A parachute?” the audience commented.

It was a Kaitou KID card on a parachute with a voice recorded, “Good evening, everyone, this is Kaitou Kid!” It started to play as its fall, “I’m terribly sorry to say this after everyone’s gathered, but I wish to cancel tonight’s magic show.”

Everyone on the audience was disappointed. They were all waiting for it. They have always wanted to see the phantom thief and his incredible tricks.

“Though I wish to exhibit my magic, without an audience or TV cameras, a lonely situation like this discourages me… Well then, farewell everyone.” and it poofed when the message was done.

Everyone was disappointed and loudly complaining about how they could have not witness Kaitou KID perform his magic.

“Hey! It looks like KID wants the audience!” Kaito, on his dark casual wear, provoked the audience more. “Then let’s all get in!”

The audience listened and force their way inside the net, “Hey! Let us in!”, until they were able to do so. The police could not stop the audience to come inside the net. People immediately gathered around the said gem to be stolen that night.

“He gathered the crowd inside the net and even restarted the live TV broadcast” The kid detective thought, “Does that mean he has to be in a situation like that in order to use the trick?” he tried deducing how but his train of thoughts were pushed back when he felt a gun on his head.

“Yo, Meitantei.” the magician greeted with all confidence.”Do you know? About Thurston’s three principles?” he initiated the talk.

Conan tried to look back to his face but the card gun on his head stopped him, “Yeah, a magician who flourished at the beginning of the 20th century, Howard Thurston.” he answered, “The three principles that were made and named after him, the three taboos, about the stuff that you can’t do by magic, right?”

“That’s right.” Kaitou confirmed, “The first one is ‘You can’t give away your secrets.’, that, I don’t need to say.” he continued, “You cannot explain what’s going to happen before you exhibit a magic trick, because the astonishment will be gone and the surprise will lessen. And the third is, ‘Do not use the same trick twice!’”

He wanted to explain everything to the kid detective, “If only used once, then you can leave a deep impression that will be glorified and left in people’s hearts as the best miracle. But when used twice, the audience will concentrate on the revelation of the trick rather than enjoying the phenomenon, and so the risk of being revealed will increase.”

“I see. So vice versa, if you manage to use the same tick twice without the secret being revealed, it becomes the best illusion?” Conan asked.

Kaito’s grin grew wider, He knew the kid would understand him.

“Conan-kun?” Ran called out.

Kaito immediately noticed so he removed the card gun on the kid’s head and fire another parachute card, “Well since the crowd’s become excited, I’d like to start the show shortly. Please enjoy the show.” and the recording ended.

The audience cheered while the kid detective looked around to find the thief but he lost him in the crowd.

He started the show as flashy as last night. Everyone except the police was all excited to see KID do his teleportation magic once again. As he disappeared when he had stolen the gem, he ran to where he’s supposed to do the trick.

“Please start.” he requested on his earpiece and he was pulled up. He fired his card gun just like the first night. Three… Two… KID laughed and was so happy about the outcome.

“Zero.” A voice he knew very well but did not expect to hear at times like this. It was the voice of his favorite critic, standing where he is supposed to be ‘appearing’ for his teleportation trick. “It’s a real pity,” the small detective continued, “but tonight’s magic show is free-of-charge. There’s zero reward Mister Moonlit Illusionist!”

The phantom thief quickly called out on his earpiece, “Get rid of the load! Hurry!”

He balanced himself on the signboard so he could step into it. He looked at the rooftop and saw the kid detective, standing on his spot wearing his ‘I’ve figured it out’ face. He grinned but that faded away when the moonlit Edogawa Conan from where he stood.

He saw his Meitantei’s eyes became red, just like what the myths said. The Pandora is a jewel hidden inside a larger jewel that will glow red under the moonlight. If it is under the moonlight at the time of the Volley Comet, the gem will cry tears of immortality.

“Y-you’re…”

Conan’s eyes widened upon seeing KID’s reaction, “Just like Vermouth that night.” he whispered to himself.

The magician thief could not keep his poker face in front of his Meitantei. He was a shake of what he had learned. He escaped the scene after showing off to people. He finished the show just for the sake of finishing it.

He could not focus. His chest tightened as he remembered that scene. THat very scene where Edogawa Conan’s eyes turned red. “It can’t be.” he denied to himself.

“What’s the matter, master?” Jii-chan asked worriedly.

“I think I found the Pandora.”

\-----

Kaito covered his eyes with his arm as the light from the bulb on the ceiling glared at his eyes.

He took a deep breath and eventually closed his eyes. He could not wash away the uneasiness he felt ever since he learned that the small detective is the Pandora he had been looking for quite a long time.

He clutched on his chest, "How could I possibly fulfill my promise?"

He could not just kill Conan, how could he? Even though they do not have any kind of relationship or anything, he knew deep down, there was some kind of connection. He knew they both enjoyed the presence of the other.

The teen magician remembered the feelings he felt every time they encounter each other, be it on a heist or a case. The thrill, the fun, the challenge. How he was always pressed on the edge and pushed him to grow more and be always at his best. For him, it was the best kind of feeling.

He grunted in frustration.

He turned to his side desk and reached for his cellphone. The high school magician dialed his mom's number. It rang a couple of times but his mom did not pick it up. More to his frustration.

He sat up and took his KID phone. He stared at it for a good minute until he decided to open it and dialed his favorite critic's phone number.

It rang once, then twice, but then he canceled the call and threw away from him the phone. No, he did not want to call the detective. He was just restless and panicking. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

He let his body fall on his bed again, "This is not going to work! I have to think of something!"

He thought harder than usual and tried calling his mom again to ask for help but he failed. He planned and planned until he did not realize that he fell asleep.

The next day, he wanted to see the small detective once again. He does not have an answer yet what he should do. But he knew somehow he needed to see Conan to calm himself down for a bit.

So there he was, on the soccer field near the teitan elementary school as the normal Kuroba Kaito. There he watched the detective boys together with Haibara and his favorite critic played their soccer. They all looked like they’re having fun.

Kaito smiled when he saw the kid detective enjoyed playing their soccer, "He really loves playing with that ball." he thought, "Though I don't like it when he uses it against me." he snorted.

Conan suddenly stopped when he felt KID's presence observing him. The soccer ball bounced off his head and the detective boys were confused with his action. He looked around trying to find someone suspicious but he did not find any.

"What's the matter Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked worriedly.

"Why did you stop?" Mitsuhiko added.

"Maybe he's hungry, right Conan?" Genta butted in and Ayumi and Mitsuhiko side-eyed him.

The high school magician was surprised as well with the detective’s sensitivity, "He really can feel my presence." he concluded.

Haibara looked at the small detective and saw uneasiness and cautiousness on his surroundings. She knew something was up, "Maybe he's already tired. We should go home.", she reasoned out.

Conan gave her an apologetic smile.

The kids complained but Haibara knew what was on the small detective's mind. "No buts. Let's go. Let's just stay at Professor Agasa's place."

The kids hesitantly agreed to the little scientist, so they packed their things and made their way to Professor Agasa’s house.

Conan followed them behind as he still observed his surroundings when suddenly an arm of a high school guy wrapped around him that made him flinched.

“KI--!!” he immediately knew it was him. He sensed him.

“Shhhh.” Kaito warned, soft but with firmness on his voice, “Quiet Meitantei.” he added.

“What do you want?” the kid asked, “The moonlight magician engaging on broad daylight.” he mocked.

But it’s as if the high school magician did not seem to care of what had the detective said, “I need you to come with me.” he said with all seriousness.

“Conan-kun?” Ayumi interrupted them, “What happened? Who is that person?” 

The detective boys stopped, “Conan-kun is going somewhere without us again!” Mitsuhiko exclaimed.

Kaito knew that these kids could be persistent so he removed the hat he was wearing and looked at the detective boys with his poker face on, all smile and gleam on his face. “Hey, kids!”

The kids were all surprised except for Haibara who immediately understood who he really was. Although she thought that it was a disguise as well.

“Ehhh?” They all complained in unison.

“Shinichi-oniisan, why are you here?”

Conan was taken aback with their comment. He looked back at the person whose arms were still wrapped around him. Unlike before, there was no card gun on his head and he was able to see Kaito’s face. He does look like Shinichi, only that he has messier hair.

“You really like disguising as me huh?” he whispered but Kaito did not answer him but he looked at him in his eyes and widely grinned at him instead.

Kaito looked around the soccer field and saw four men in black talking in a quite secluded place on the field. He recognized two of them. It was the same people who had killed his father. His chest ached.

He quickly picked up the small detective, carrying him like a cat, “Hey! Put me down!” Conan struggled but Kaito’s hold was firm. He looked at him and saw worriedness in his eyes. “He doesn’t seem to be like himself.” Conan thought.

The kid detective’s eyes followed where the high school magician was looking, and there he found Gin and Vodka talking to another set of men in black. He felt his blood rushed all over his body.

He looked back at Haibara, “Quick, you need to go away from here.” he said, that Kaito had heard.

“Well, then kids, Conan and I need to go. Bye.” he walked on the different where he saw the men in black. At times like this, he would have confronted the men in black but he knew that Snake was not very subtle when he works. He preferred to hold people up at gunpoint. He does not bother silencing his weapon.

He knew the people around and the kids would not be safe if he had confronted them and he knew he cannot, not with the kid detective with him. He will not let them get Pandora.

But Kaito and Conan have different perspectives. Conan wanted to confront them. He wanted to finish his case and turn back to Shinichi again. He tried to escape from Kaito’s arm once again, but he could not. “Let me go, KID!” he demanded

The high school magician was having a hard time preventing the kid detective to move so he had no choice and put out a handkerchief with chloroform to knock down the kid.

He immediately went to his father’s secret room, where e kept Kaitou KID’s costume and paraphernalia. The kidnapping was not included on KID’s set of skills that was why he was not ready when he took the kid detective to his place.

He removed Conan’s glasses, wristwatch, and shoes and tied him up as well so he could not escape.

The magician stayed in the room and waited for the kid detective to wake up so he could apologize and explain. But when Conan woke up, the kid detective was disappointed with him.

“Why were you doing this?” the kid asked, “I never thought you were this low to do this kind of thing. I guess I was wrong.”

Kaito felt his heart broke. His chest tightened as if it wanted to explode. He did not want to hear how disappointed the detective was of him. What he only wanted was to see him smile, to see him have fun deducing his riddles, to see him all fired up to solve the mysteries the Kaitou KID had.

“Listen, Meitantei,” he said but the kid refused to look at him and listen. “Please?” he pleaded but it still has no effect.

He took a deep breath and went out of the room.

He wanted time to think. He wanted some space to ease up the weird pain he was feeling. He tried to call his mom again but she did not answer her phone again, “Where are you, mom?” he asked himself.

Since he could not think of anything else, even if he did not want to, Kaito called Akako to ask for her help.

“Do you think you can do something about this? Anything?” he desperately asked, only to get a negative response.

“I would love to help you, Kuroba-kun.” she started, “But there’s no way out. You cannot take the Pandora away from its vessel or else, the vessel will die. You need to choose.” and hung up the phone.

Kaito did not want to hear that once more. He has been trying his best just to fulfill his promise of destroying the Pandora whatever it takes but keeping his Meitantei alive. But the world seemed like against it.

He went back to the room where he had locked Conan, downcasted, and became, even more, when he saw the kid did not even touch the food he gave, “Meitantei…” he called.

“Shut up. Get away from me.” The kid said without even looking at Kaito.

Kaito took another deep breath and sat near the kid detective. He lowered his head and silence covered the room but the magician could not take it so he started talking on a very low voice but audible enough for Conan to hear.

“My dad, the former Kaitou KID died because of the men in black we saw earlier on the field.” he started, “He died trying to look for the Pandora. Since then, I promised myself that I will find Pandora and destroy it whatever it takes. That no one should be subjected to suffer because of the Pandora, especially you.”

He remembered his feeling of desperation and his rage at that time. How he was so young and innocent to not understand what was going on before. He wanted to get revenge. Revenge on the persons who had killed his father. But he stopped himself and tried to put away what he was feeling.

Kaito caught the attention of the kid, “I didn’t know it was you until my last heist. I saw your pupil change its color into dark reddish glint under the moonlight. I was caught off guard that night that I almost was not able to finish the show.” he continued, “Snake is the type of guy that would kill even if there are lots of people that will be involved. He was not subtle. That’s why I did not want you to go there earlier. I don’t want the others and you get hurt. I hope you understand.”

Conan finally spoke, “What is your plan now?” he asked.

The magician went silent for a bit and avoided the gaze of the detective, “I-I am not yet sure. I don’t know what to do.”

Conan grinned at him that caught the high school magician off guard, “Just do what you think is needed.” he said.

“But I can’t kill you. I don’t want to.” he said low but firm, “Not ever in my entire life.”

The kid smiled, “I’m sorry for doubting you earlier. But you need to do what is right.”

Kaito stood up, “I don’t like where this conversation is going. I’m sorry.” and went out of the room once again.

He sat down on his bed. He wanted to wash away all the negative feelings he was feeling at the moment. But he does not know what to do. He felt even more desperate and frustrated at the same time.

His chest continuously tightened and he was having irregular breathing. “Calm down. Kaito. You can think of something.” he convinced himself, repeatedly.

His phone rang that made him flinched a bit, he looked at his phone on the side desk and was delighted to see his mom’s name on the screen, calling. He picked it up quickly and answered it.

“Mom! Where have you been? Thank goodness you called. I’ve been calling you a couple of times!” he sounded demanding.

He heard the woman on the other line giggle, “What happened, Kaito? You missed me so much?” she teased. “I’m sorry dear, your mom has been busy this past few days. What happened?”

He sighed in defeat and paused for a second and was unsure if he should tell his mom, but he knew she needed it, “I found the Pandora.” he declared.

The other line went silent. He knew this would happen, “Mom? Are you still there?” he asked. He knew his mom is a cheerful person, just like his dad, that’s why his mom acting like this made him more uneasy.

“Y-yes Honey, of course.” she stuttered, “What happened? Where did you find it?” Her voice was not joyful as it is earlier but he can hear the effort his mom was trying to put just not to make him worry about her.

“It’s a long story and I don't have the time right now to tell.” He displayed a bitter smile. Good thing he was on a phone call that his mom would not see it.

“Have you destroyed it?” The question he did not want to hear at all. The question he did not want to answer. 

Now it was his time to be silent for a moment, taken aback with his mother’s question. “I couldn’t, mom,” he said.

“Why not?” she inquired.

“B-because the Pandora is someone I could not possibly kill.” he paused, “I’m sorry, mom. I know I promised I will destroy it, but not him. I’m really sorry.”

His mom smiled and sip a cup of tea, she knew Kaito was bothered about something. She was his mom after all and she was happy that his son had chosen to tell her that, “It’s okay, Kaito. You don’t have to.”

Kaito was confused. All his life as Kaitou KID, his goal was to find Pandora before the bad person does and destroy it.

“Your dad’s goal was not really just to destroy the Pandora, did you not know?” she laughed, “He wanted to destroy the Pandora to protect it from people who want to do evil things with it. So you really don’t have to kill anyone, honey. I will be disappointed and I know your father will, as well.” she reassured, “If you can’t destroy it…”

The young magician’s mood was enlightened, “...I just have to protect him from them.” he concluded and his mom hummed in to agree.

THE END.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry the ending was rushed. Hahahaha. I'll try to edit it when I got the time. Thank you, kimmy-kouhai! I had fun writing your prompt. Although I'm really not a writer at all.
> 
> I made it through the KaiShinBigBang! Thank you Airu and Youmi for helping me a lot with this. I'm sorry for all the troubles. Hahaha. Love you both.
> 
> Sorry for being late, Mac!


End file.
